New Vision Arts Festival
We have nothing but respect for Elaine Yeung at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Both for the heroic work she is doing, and for being one of the few visionaries employed by the government. Yeung is the force behind the biannual New Vision Arts Festival, and thank goodness she does the job she does. The festival is a snapshot of what a Hong Kong arts festival should be: Asian-focused and cutting edge, with the balls to showcase daring, controversial new works that our cousins up north would never dare go near.

As soon as the keynote speech ended at the opening performance of the Nederlands Dans Theatre I’s triple bill at the Cultural Centre, the Grand Theatre was slammed into darkness as Philip Glass’ thunderous, emotional score came hurtling out of the speakers at a magnificently loud volume, and Leon Lightfoot’s masterful choreography brought stunning modern dance to the stage. The festival continued in the same cutting-edge vein, with Wu Hsing-kuo and Tsui Hark’s dazzling staging of The Tempest from the Contemporary Legend Theatre of Taiwan, followed by a controversial performance of Beijing luminary Liu Sola’s Fantasy of the Red Queen with Germany’s Ensemble Moderne. Local theatre also got a chance to break new ground, including a wonderful work of verbatim theatre from Theatre Du Pif in The Will to Build. This festival is a reminder that our city sits on the fringe of the world’s most exciting new superpower, yet we’re the only ones with the artistic freedom to stage the most controversial shows. Ms Yeung: we want more.

Runner-up: Le French May 2008
Oh la la, the French, how we love it when you take over our city. The French Consulate continues to make cultural exchange exciting by not only bringing in a great variety of artists, but some of the top French acts of today. This year’s Le French May had a whopping 15 exhibitions, including Picasso’s Vollard Suite Prints, borrowed from the Louvre in Paris. In the music category Le French May brought piano man Maxence Cyrin, the Paris electro crew Ed Banger Records (but points off for not bringing label headliner Justice), and a handful of star pianists including David Greilsammer and Denyce Graves. The Tricolor programme from the Hong Kong Ballet was one of their strongest performances this year, while the film portion had 10 classic French films. They even brought the circus – and not just any circus, but the critically acclaimed innovator of circus arts Jérôme Thomas. Tres bon, mes amis.

Second runner-up: Clockenflap
Clockenflap hit the jackpot on January 12 – the organisers chose winter’s hottest and sunniest day. Even though it was also the same day as Wild Day Out, about 1,500 punters made it to Cyberport, a new venue for festivals such as this. England’s excellent indie rockers The Young Knives headlined the night while local rockers DP and The Lovesong outdid themselves on the big stage. Flawless production, readily-flowing beer, and some nifty Hong Kong films rounded out a great day. A planned follow-up for October was cancelled at a late stage but plans are afoot for an expanded format in 2009.

Honourable Mention: ART HK08: Hong Kong International Art Fair
19,185 people flowed into the doors of the HKCEC in Wan Chai this May to see the spectacularly well organised, inaugural Hong Kong International Art Fair. All the gallery greats were here – Marlborough, Ben Brown, and Yvon Lambert – along with the region’s finest. Sales were strong, yet the fair succeeded on a greater level. As our columnist The Collectionist remarked in his glowing review: “Hong Kong’s original sin is a lack of creative culture. But with the arrival of the Fair, we finally have a cultural anchor; we’re now on the map.”
 
Readers' choice: The Rugby Sevens
What else but the annual beer (and rugby) carnival, held in March.